


Don't Get Me Wrong

by KimchiKitty7



Series: The Caleb Chronicles [5]
Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: M/M, Plot is on the horizon, a mystery is afoot, i have no idea how to tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:28:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23843767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KimchiKitty7/pseuds/KimchiKitty7
Summary: A hint of mystery makes the future look brighter.
Series: The Caleb Chronicles [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1686178
Kudos: 7





	Don't Get Me Wrong

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for the delay between posts. I hope everyone is still enjoying this series. I'm actually getting to the real plot phase of this story, I promise! Comments are always welcome.

When he was younger, Caleb never thought about the moon. It was there. Occasionally he noticed, if it was full or exceptionally bright. But it didn't mean anything to him. There was no connection. No meaning. No curse. No repercussions. It was just the moon.

Then he was turned. The moon became something he was afraid of. Something to watch and wait for. It wasn't alone. At that point he had so many things to fear, what was one more, really? The moon meant he was different. He was cursed. People could hurt him, or hunt him, or kill him, and it wouldn't matter. Not really. Because in the eyes of the world, he wasn't human. He was a thing that laws were made against to protect the "real" people in the world. Caleb learned to hate the moon.

Things were supposed to get better. After he was saved and freed. Isn't that what happened in all of the stories and history books? People were liberated and their lives got better. But not his. Now he had invisible lines to tiptoe around. Couldn't say the wrong thing to the wrong person. Couldn't give them proof that he deserved everything that had happened to him by just being a person. The full moon was supposed to be the time that the pard came together, like a family celebrating a holiday. Everyone said it was supposed to be fun, and exciting. Something to look forward to. But it just meant even more people. It meant being crowded, and on edge. Being on guard every second for three days. Caleb looked at the moon, and all he could feel was exhaustion.

In the underground below the Circus of the Damned, the place Caleb now called home, no one could see the moon. All of the shifters could still feel it, would know when it was close to full. That would never change. Tempers ran high, and he made sure to keep to himself. To disappear, so everyone would forget that he even existed. And it was surprisingly easy. For the first few months, he started arriving later at Anita's house for the moon. Until he was arriving only minutes before everyone began to shift. No one noticed, or if they did, they never said anything. So he slowly stopped attending anything. No movie nights or family dinners or nights out on the town with the pard. He was alone, but he didn't feel lonely. He felt free. Eventually he got bold enough to skip going for the full moon altogether. He stayed in his room at the Circus. He ate raw meat from the grocery store and left the radio playing so he had something to listen to. He felt free. Caleb couldn't see the moon anymore, and he had never loved it more.

But someone knew what he had done. No one said anything, but a few days before the next full moon, he found a package outside his door. When he opened it, it was filled with high-quality meat still in paper from a butcher’s shop, and cat toys. Underneath all of that, was a cell phone, a nice one, with a letter folded on top.

_Caleb,_

_I have noticed you enjoy your privacy, a quality that you and I share. But I hate to think of you suffering for the privilege. I hope this will be enough to tide you over for the full moon, and provide you some entertainment as well. If you wish to contact me, I have enclosed my number in the contacts on the phone. No one else has the number, or knows that it exists at all. I hope to hear from you soon._

_An Admirer_

Someone knew he was using the Circus to hide. That he had stayed there for the last full moon. And they seemed to be encouraging him to continue? He wasn't sure if he could trust whoever this was, not yet. But suddenly life at the Circus seemed to get a lot more interesting.

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from the song Don't Get Me Wrong, as performed by Hale Appleman on the SyFy show The Magicians.


End file.
